5 Ways to utilize Voice of customer data for eCommerce

By Alon Ghelber

On May 19th, 2020, the United States Department of Commerce reported that e-Commerce reached 12% out of total sales in the North American country. Just ten years ago, the number stood at 4%, a whopping 300% difference. With the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic, this number will continue its steep climb.

Confined to their homes, consumers are spending more time looking for online shopping alternatives. As a result, online sales have experienced the most significant rise in demand in recorded history.

This new status quo led top industry brands to take a closer look at their eCommerce operations.

In this article, I'll cover five ways successful brands implement Voice Of Customer (VOC) analytics to improve eCommerce sales.

1) Improve your user engagement rate

In order to improve user engagement rates you need to understand your customers. Collecting and analyzing consumer feedback is a great way to learn more about customers’ behavior, wants, and needs. Two of the best tools at your disposal are customer satisfaction surveys and the Net Promoter Score (NPS).

Conducting customer satisfaction surveys (CSAT) and measuring your brand’s Net Promoter Score (NPS) enables you to optimize communications with consumers. Open-ended CSAT surveys can help you to communicate with customers in their own language, while NPS surveys allow you to Identify those promoters (and detractors) and engage with them.

You can either send these customers a gift card, offer a discount for their next purchase, or even message them directly on social media.

2) Analyze user-generated content

Another great source for customer’s feedback data is publicly available reviews. Online reviews posted on eCommerce websites or social media posts are a great way to obtain valuable and actionable insights. Top industry brands utilize analysis tools to extract trending topics and user sentiment. This data enables brands to identify pain points, understand consumer expectations, and increase brand value.

3) Leverage review data to optimize your product listing

Analyzed user-generated content can also help you optimize product listing. Customer reviews allow you to understand what your customers are looking for. While positive reviews tell you what consumers like and appreciate about your brand or product, negative reviews provide insight into what consumers are missing or wish to see improved.

For example, we often stumble upon many reviews similar to “ The product is excellent, but I wish it had a longer cable”. These reviews contain a simple consumer pain point you can address simply and effectively and increase sales.

4) Find gaps in the market by analyzing negative reviews

Applying a similar strategy this time on a category level, enables you to identify the customer wish list and pain points for the entire industry. Analyzing negative reviews helps you find market gaps You can leverage in product dev, brand innovation, and marketing campaigns.

5) Monitor your competitors on social media

Social listening is another great tool for monitoring market trends and gaps. Monitoring and analyzing how consumers react, describe, and behave towards your competitors on social media is a market research gold mine.

Understanding Social Sentiment allows optimize your social strategy, and identifying trending keywords on amazon and phrases helps you improve listings and traffic. It will give your brand a great boost and will keep you one step ahead of the competition.

Conclusion:

Leveraging unstructured and UGC data allows you to improve product and marketing strategy development, increasing consumer engagement, sales, and earnings. In addition, it helps you optimize resource allocation, allowing you to cut service-related expenses, maintain lower return rates, and generate better organic results.

Alon is a Tel Aviv-based consultant who supports b2b tech startups in capturing customers’ (and VCs’) attention through marketing based on data-driven storytelling.  His LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alon-ghelber-a6305032/